Sub-sect leader.
Just hearing the title was enough to tell someone its holder would likely be the next leader. This was my conclusion after giving it much thought.
Before my regression, she was the original holder of the title of the sect leader, and she holds the capacity to do it even now. It also seemed that she had changed a lot since we first met.
The cruelty and arrogance were still there, but she had grown stronger after going through many things. If she couldn’t be the next leader, the only other suitable position for her would have been to be my wife.
[You….]
Baek Hye-hyang looked shocked. She clearly didn’t think that she would be given such a position.
As we did fight for the position of the sect leader, she must have never thought that I would give her a position of such great authority.
[You don’t like it?]
[…could you even believe it if I said I didn’t like it?]
[We have entrusted our lives to each other before, so I have no reason to not believe in you.]
I was still grateful to her. For whatever reason, she had risked her life for me. If it wasn’t for her, I would have died in the hands of Mu Ack.
[The reason…]
[No. Even if that wasn’t the case, I just thought that considering your level, status, and skills, the most suitable position for you was the sub-sect leader.]
My words caused her expression to change. She looked different than usual.
I think it was because she felt special about her worth as being recognized, not as a woman, but as a person with skills.
She sighed, laughed, and replied with a message.
[Stupid. If it were me, I would have kicked you out right away. Well… I would feel bad but….]
Someone then knelt before me and shouted.
“Not worthy!”
It was the Third Blood Star, Yang Jeon.
Baek Hye-hyang, who was smiling, raised an eyebrow. Showing some quick wits, my guardian Ha Jong-il moved to the front.
“Third Blood Star, the ceremony is not over yet. What are…”
“Left guardian.”
I called out to him.
I signaled him to step back. As he did so, I looked at the Third Blood Star and said.
“What is not worthy?”
“To be sub-leader means to be only second to one person. In other words, Lady Baek Hye-hyang’s position would be almost comparable to that of the sect leader. This position has never existed in the sect since we were founded.”
“So?”
“The position of sect leader is like a sun to the sect. There is only one sun in the sky. Yet, if you create a position similar to the sun, I wonder what would become of the sun in the future.”
Members of the sect whispered among themselves at this. As expected, while he was a person of rank, he wasn’t truly acting up.
He was someone who belonged to Baek Ryeon-ha.
He was also someone who opposed Baek Hye-hyang more than anyone else. However, if they opposed me directly like this, they were making a position that I created a point of contention.
I shook my head. There was something that he overlooked.
Which I made immediately clear.
“There is no conversation about this. Are you unhappy that she is being given a position higher than what was given to Baek Ryeon-ha?”
‘…!?’
Hearing this, the Third Blood Star’s expression changed. All of the other Blood Stars in his faction shared his expression. They must have thought that I wouldn’t openly question their motives.
Even if they hadn’t directly said it, it would be possible for me to make the first move.
“That is not…”
“No. Even if she is the sub-sect leader, she is not the Blood Demon. How, then, could she become the same as me?”
“Blood Demon, the heavens…”
“Everyone, listen to me!”
I placed a note of sternness into my voice, sending it echoing among the crowd.
-What are you doing?
This was to make sure everyone heard.
Watching this happen again and again was tiring. Now that this chance had come, I needed to end their war and relay my thoughts.
“Are you all members of the sect? Or are you members of the Baek Hye-hyang and Baek Ryeon-ha factions?”
The whole place became silent. Everyone knew what I meant by asking this.
I then said.
“Do I sound like I am jesting?!”
This made everyone reply at the top of their lungs.
“We are of the Blood Sect!”
I looked down at the Third Blood Star and said coldly.
“Are you not a member of the sect? Why are you silent?”
Surprised by this, he bowed his head and declared.
“I am of the Blood Sect!”
“You know this, so what is with this act?”
“My thoughts were….”
“Are you unhappy that Baek Hye-hyang and Baek Ryeon-ha are being given positions befitting their status?”
“That…”
I smiled as he struggled to answer. I then stood up and said.
“Their status is of the direct bloodline of the previous Blood Demon. They cannot simply be given just any position. Therefore, I granted the honorable position of the high priest to Baek Ryeon-ha and the position of the sub-sect leader to Baek Hye-hyang. What problem do you have with this?”
The Third Blood Star listened to this and replied cautiously.
“If it is as you said, then the position isn’t biased to anyone…”
“Can you defeat Baek Hye-hyang?”
He fell silent at my question. Of course, he would.
Her martial arts were strong enough that only the First Elder and my teacher would be able to deal with her. Of course, other variables could come into play, but none of them would deny it.
“I am one who respects martial arts. If Baek Ryeon-ha acquires that level of skill, she can take the position from Baek Hye-hyang.”
I have now given them a chance to take the position if he really wanted to give it to Baek Ryeon-ha. Of course, it would only be possible if Baek Ryeon-ha’s skills improved.
This made Baek Hye-hyang smile. It was like I was giving them a dream of hope that did not exist.
She had that much confidence in her victory and her ability to keep her position.
‘Ah!’
I suddenly had a nice thought.
I raised my voice again so everyone could hear.
“Let us make this public. Whether they are a Blood Star or just a regular sect member, I will judge them only through the medium of skill.”
Whisper!
The crowd fell silent.
Seo Kalma, who had been watching quietly, opened his mouth.
“To only use skill to judge them…”
“Anyone with the appropriate ability can wrest the position of a Blood Star or a Venerable Dignitary.”
‘….!!’
The sect members became agitated.
According to my words, anyone with enough ability could push another from their place.
“How can that….”
The Fifth Blood Star, Hwang Kang, was clearly shocked. The current system of the sect was a structure where one’s position was increased based on skill and official titles.
However, the Blood Sect I lead will be one where anyone with a title would need to stay on their toes.
-Look at them shaking.
Short Sword giggled in amusement.
-They’re shaking in a good way, Wonwhi.
-Not bad. This should make those guys desperately improve to avoid losing their positions.
While Iron Sword was unsurprising, even the Blood Demon Sword also agreed with me. I had conceived of the system on the fly due to the factions under Baek Hye-hyang and Baek Ryeon-ha, but this should be better for the future.
The First Elder then sent me a message.
[It is a good method. The sect would become a system where individuals would fight rather than groups. The level of the sect would also rise, killing two birds with one stone.]
No longer would they be comfortable with just a certain level of skill. They would be pushed to grow.
[Hehehe. You can never neglect your skills if you want to keep your position.]
Even Hae Ack-chun approved of it. He reacted like this even though he was in a position where anyone could aim for him to seize his spot.
Truly a martial arts maniac.
On the other hand, the Fifth and Seventh Blood Stars were glaring at the Third Blood Star, clearly blaming him for causing this situation.
I felt grateful to them.
Gratitude for reminding me of such a good idea.
“I will continue the ceremony.”
Tak.
At my command, Baek Hye-hyang knelt on one knee happily and clasped her hand as she bowed her head and shouted.
“I obey the command of the Blood Demon.”
And with that, she was now the sub-sect leader. No one else objected further.
They were now more concerned with maintaining their own position. Ha Jong-il then quietly looked at me.
There was an important announcement after this.
-Kekeik, the reactions are expected.
That’s right.
I’m sure everyone would be surprised to learn that Sima Young would become my wife and the daughter of one of the Four Great Evils.
At the moment Ha Jong-il was ready to announce this, a member of the sect ran towards us with a serious expression.
“W-we have a big problem!”
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
Even though he had the Second Blood Star, Yu Baek, step forward to intercept him, the messenger only looked at me and knelt.
“30,000 troops from the government are headed here as we speak.”
‘…!!’
The entire place became agitated at this news.
“30,000?”
“How can there be so many of them?”
I was also quite shocked at this. I thought we would no longer have a problem since Lee Seok helped us last time. Yet 30,000 government soldiers were heading here now as if coming for war.
‘This isn’t a low-level deployment.’
This meant that the central government had moved.
Dududud!
The ground shuddered as thousands of cavalry soldiers moved across it.
Behind them were countless infantry soldiers marching in rows of five.
Hundreds of carts were also being pulled by horses between the soldiers. On them was something akin to a large bow.
It was a large crossbow.
It was a siege weapon that required three people to operate and could fire dozens of arrows at once. The power generated by this machine was enough to pierce a wall, incomparable to a normal bow.
Chak!
Upon reaching a certain distance, the cavalry raised a blue flag, and the army marching behind them stopped.
As the government soldiers stopped their advance, the siege weapons began to be loaded with arrows as 10,000 archers readied their medium-sized bows.
‘….’
The expressions on the nobles’ faces as they watched this were unusual. The large crossbow was not a siege weapon but a strategic weapon to deal with Murim warriors.
-Why are they doing that?
I don’t know.
However, it was clear that they brought strategic weapons in anticipation of a war.
Even if each soldier had less strength, the fear was still clear.
By mobilizing this many troops in combination with those weapons, becoming overwhelmed in a battle was a real possibility.
“The situation doesn’t look good.”
The First Elder, Dan Wei-kang, said this stiffly, and I agreed.
No matter how much mastery over martial arts we have, if those arrows flew at us, we would end up sacrificing many lives.
We needed to step back from their range. At that moment, a cavalry soldier came riding in with a flag.
“Looks like a messenger.”
‘Ah!’
The flag he carried stated that it belonged to the Head of the Stationed Troops. As expected, we knew who had moved.
The cavalry soldier stopped at a distance and shouted loudly.
“Blood Sect leader, we hope you respond to our summons alone!”
The sect members clearly didn’t like that I was being called out alone. There was only one thing that could have led to this.
A problem I made disappear by bribing their local head of government.
Did the Murim Alliance reach out their hand again?
At that moment, Hae Ack-chun stood at the wall and replied.
“Why are you looking for the leader of our sect?”
The cavalry soldier replied.
“If you do not respond to our summons, our reply will be made with arrows!”
“What! How dare they!”
“Look at them!”
Seo Kalma hurriedly held onto my teacher’s clothes to stop him from running in and attacking the messenger in anger.
That was the right choice.
Killing this soldier would mean war.
“Phew.”
I sighed.
For something like this to happen today, things really couldn’t be solved easily. Judging from the fact that this much force was being mobilized for me, the situation could spiral out of control if I refused.
“I will go.”
“Blood Demon!”
“You cannot go alone!”
“We will help!”
The elders tried to dissuade me. However, we would need to make sacrifices if we wanted to deal with them.
The opponent, however, wasn’t some regional official but an entire army under the control of the province.
Needless friction will only make things worse for us. I shook my head at them and turned to Baek Hye-hyang.
“The time has come for you to take temporary leadership.”
Short Sword clicked her tongue as we reached where the government soldiers were positioned.
-The soldiers we saw on the way here won’t be able to fight.
That’s right.
The troops here were just conscripted soldiers. Since this military was created for defense, its quality was different from the army under the Military Ministry.
Wasn’t that why they had come prepared with a strategic weapon against Murim warriors?
We saw middle-aged men with long beards and their subordinates, all wearing armor.
‘… of course.’
Well.
They also learned a form of martial arts.
Martial arts wasn’t a privilege that only those of Murim could learn in the first place. It simply required a high level of skill. The person who seemed to be the general felt he was at the master level, while those under his command were around first-rate.
-Wonhwi, be careful. My previous owner said that the government wasn’t only scary because of its army of millions but also because it had a considerable number of warriors.
That was indeed so.
If the army was simply filled by ordinary people, the imperial family would have been overthrown already.
It was said that the imperial family had a type of hidden power, and I was curious about it.
Swish!
As I reached the front, the archers aimed their bows at me. The general on his horse then opened his mouth.
“Are you the Blood Sect’s leader?”
“That is correct. May I ask for the general’s name?”
A person like this should be fairly known. I was familiar with those in high ranks when I worked as a spy in the Murim Alliance. It would be easier to respond if I had his name.
“How dare you ask a question when you are being summoned for violating the nation’s laws?”
One of the general’s men interrupted us. It seemed that he was feeling blustery as I had come alone.
The man with the spear then continued.
“We also told you to come without weapons, but you ignored that! Put the weapons down right now and take off that hideous mask.”
Hearing this, I snorted and replied.
“That is difficult. I need to protect myself too.”
“What?”
“And all that you are saying are mere allegations. The crime that you accuse me of hasn’t been proven yet.”
Hearing this, the general’s expression contorted. Thanks to his soldier’s bluster, I managed to get some useful information.
The man we bribed seemed to have destroyed any evidence of our transaction. There was no need to act weak.
There was anger towards me, which was then directed at the Blood Sect, as he said.
“Do you really want to see these arrows fly?”
He tried to intimidate me as I replied coldly.
“I responded to your summons alone to help you save face. If you continue to act like this, things will get difficult.”
“Ha! What are you going to do? I am the one who can sentence you to…”
Thud!
Before he could finish his words, his eyes closed, and he fell off his horse. That was the price to pay for looking me in the eye.
“What!”
“What is this!”
Seeing that a general had fainted, everyone turned to aim their weapons at me. A bearded soldier raised his voice and said,
“What did you do?”
There had been no trace of martial arts, but a general under his command had suddenly fainted, and he was clearly surprised.
I replied softly to this.
“I put him to sleep because he was being rude.”
“Sleep? Are you not afraid of this situation? When the high general raises his hand, the arrows would be released.”
“It is too late for that.”
“What?”
“Before you raise that hand, all within three miles of me will die.”
As soon as I said this, I released my internal qi.
Gooooo!
There was no need to open my upper dantian.
I closed my left eye and opened my middle dantian to release my qi. The expression of the bearded high general and those under him became stiff.
Having learned some martial arts, they should know the difference in our level. They would feel a clenching in their hearts.
The high general then frowned and said to me,
“You do realize that crossbows are aimed at you as well?”
“That only works for their level.”
‘….!’
“Try it if you don’t believe it. However, the price would be your subordinates’ lives.”
“How dare you!”
The bearded man raised his hand, and his long beard was cut in half before he even realized it.
“If you really want to see whose hands are faster, it won’t be your beard next time.”
The high general’s hand, about to rise, began to tremble. Even his subordinates could no longer speak easily.
Some were even breaking out in cold sweats. I then spoke to them condescendingly.
“You shouldn’t have called me this close.”
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Intimidation returned as intimidation.
